1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to safety devices for use in, for example, the construction industry, and, in particular, to a scaffold supporting standing seam roof bracket which is adjustable for use on roofs having a wide range of pitches.
2. Related Background Art
In the construction and repair of buildings, builders often must work on inclined roof decks. One known type of roof deck has roof panels that fit together at standing seams. The standing seams typically extend across the roof, and interlock and secure the panels together. Although standing seam roofs provide many benefits, they generally do not provide a convenient means for enabling workers to support themselves and prevent against falling from the roof. In order to overcome this problem, various mechanisms have been employed. One known mechanism is a hook and safety line assembly that attaches at one end of the line to a safety belt worn by a worker and engages through the hook with a suitable roof edge, such as a ridge of the roof, at the other end of the line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,720 discloses a safety clamp that attaches to standing seams of a roof deck. The safety clamp attaches to the standing roof seams by moving a threaded member to hold three standing seams in clamped relation between movable tabs of the clamp. A safety line attached to both the safety clamp and a worker's safety belt supports the worker to prevent him from falling from the roof deck.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,743 discloses a personal safety lanyard roof attachment apparatus that includes a top bar having a coupling adapted for retaining a personal safety lanyard, a pair of end supports each pivotally connected to the top bar at opposite ends thereof, a pair of crossbars interconnecting the pair of end supports, and a pair of clamping members secured to each pair of crossbars. The clamping members each comprise an adjustable clamp including a clamping handle for clamping a pair of clamping jaws, and the clamping handle includes a lock ring for locking the clamping handle in a clamped position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,769 discloses a support which clamps to a raised profile of roof decking and supports a safety barrier or a display sign. The support comprises a clamp and a support element over which an upright support post carrying the barrier is telescopically received. The clamp comprises a pair of clamping jaws which are pivoted to each other and have respective feet at their ends remote from the pivotal connection. The feet engage the deck and have projecting flanges which cooperate with opposed undercuts on the raised profile when the clamp is tightened by a screw threaded arrangement remote from the pivotal connection. A brace is provided with a clamp similar to the above-described clamp. The brace is rotatable about the support element and the clamp can be correspondingly adjusted to be clampable to the same or different profile as the clamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,662 relates to a device for supporting a load on a standing seam roof. A platform is provided for spanning the distance between two adjacent roof seams and camming means are mounted on opposite sides of the platform for engaging parallel roof seams.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,353 relates to a variable pitch roof bracket that includes an elongated rod forming a base or backbone and being adapted for securement to a roof structure. A platform arm is pivotally mounted to an upper end of a base member, and a locking cam positioner is slidably movable on the base member. A rigid pivotally mounted linkage interconnecting the platform arm and cam effects a locking of the cam upon a slight downward movement of the platform arm.
While some of the above-described mechanisms may be generally good for their intended applications, they suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, many of the prior art mechanisms scratch, puncture, or otherwise physically damage roof structures when mechanically attached thereto. Moreover, some of the above-described prior art mechanisms have complex structures and are heavy in weight, thereby making them unwieldy to handle and arrange on roof decks.
There therefore exists a need for an improved standing seam roof bracket for supporting scaffolding, and which is light-weight, easy to transport and arrange on a standing seam rook deck, and adjustable for use on roofs having a wide range of pitches.